#is this the kind of thing i did with the jesse lives au before i dropped it rapidly? yes. i'm going back to that someday it's not an omen

[squirrelno2]

I have written a fun little Cody/OC meet-cute, by which I mean Cody and a bounty hunter beat each other up in the middle of a marketplace as a prelude to a very weird road trip. This snippet will be expanded on slowly and randomly and eventually posted on AO3, but for now below the cut you can find: murder! mildly homoerotic grappling! desperate rationalizations of cognitive dissonance!

Leaving the Empire should have been harder. It should have felt like the end of all things. Cody could feel the back of his head pulsing whenever he considered it, everything the Kaminoans had told them and everything he knew about the Empire and the Republic and his duty vying for dominance over Cody’s own crazy impulses.

But the Empire wasn’t the Republic. And Cody wasn’t fighting anymore. Not properly. He told himself, when the headache got to be too much, that he was only searching for a way to serve better. To be the clone commander he’d been before – before.

The headache would ease. He would keep moving. He wouldn’t think of his former general.

It would all begin again the next day, but he was Cody. He could survive a headache, after everything else he’d lived through.

He bartered for passage on a dozen different ships of varying levels of legality – traders here, smugglers there, always people who’d never needed to know a clone’s face. With clones being phased out altogether, he managed to convince himself the danger was almost totally past. Nobody would care about a clone on the streets.

But they hadn’t been released from duty yet, and it was a rude awakening when the man Cody tried to sell his holdout blaster to for just a few more credits decided instead to blackmail Cody for all he had.

“I know the Empire would love to have one of their favourite investments back,” the man said, leaning forward into Cody’s space. He was taller than Cody, with a brutal grip on his wrist and breath that smelled of a local vinegar-soaked fish dish. Cody eyed his blaster. He could figure out another way of getting the credits he needed to get to his potential contact. He wasn’t letting go of that blaster again.

“You’ll want to let go of me,” Cody intoned dully. He gave his wrist a half-hearted tug. He hadn’t wanted to draw attention to himself. Not that he had any faith in the Empire caring about their “investment,” not the way this woefully out-of-date local did, but he knew he’d be in for a painful punishment if the Empire got him back. High-ranking deserters brought that out of people.

“I don’t think I –“

Cody rolled his eyes and yanked, pulling the surprised human past him and sending him to the floor with a kick to the knee. He flailed, releasing Cody, and Cody snatched up his blaster and fired a single clean shot at the man’s head. The pawn shop was quiet again.

Cody was used to droids. They didn’t bleed. He’d shot organic beings before – Umbara, for one. He’d fired on Sith. He’d fired on his traitor general.

But the headache was back. Cody remembered he hadn’t eaten. Had he had any water today?

“Shouldn’t have gone after a trained soldier,” he muttered, annoyed at the pang of guilt he felt. The man was an untrained civilian with eyes bigger than his blaster maybe, but he’d been a threat. Cody ended threats.

Threats to the Empire? His brain felt like a traitor. He wasn’t if it was betraying him or the Empire or the Republic, but it was betraying somebody. Cody holstered his blaster and turned away. Someone would come in, soon enough. He needed to leave. Preferably the planet.

Unfortunately, it was some kind of holiday here on this backwater planet, and the civilians were out in droves. Cody ducked his head as he pushed through the crowd. He just had to get back to the ship he’d come in on. The crew may not have liked or trusted him, but they were criminal enough they couldn’t turn him in without risking scrutiny of their own, and they let him work off debts instead of paying in credits he didn’t have. He liked those things in an ally, right now. It was all he had.

Someone caught at his wrist.

“Hey,” said a low, rumbling voice. Cody glanced up into the grey-furred face of a Cathar. “Don’t I know you?”

“No,” Cody said, twisting his hand free of the stranger’s grasp. “Sorry. I’m late.”

“No, no, you owe me twenty credits!” the Cathar said loudly, turning heads.

“You have me confused for someone else,” Cody hissed. Was there another clone out here? Could that be why he’d been recognised?

Focus.

“Believe me, I don’t,” the stranger said. They leaned in closer, whispering into Cody’s ear. “So come with me, Commander Cody, or these fine people will think you’re guilty of much worse than an overdue gambling debt.”

Cody punched the Cathar in the face. The stranger grabbed their nose, swearing in a language Cody didn’t know, and raised their other hand. Cody shoved it away, trying to plant his foot in the stranger’s gut, only for the stranger to seize his ankle and twist. Cody hit the ground before he knew it. He wheezed, but that didn’t stop him from tossing the stranger over him. They both panted for a second.

“You’re good,” the Cathar said.

“You gonna let me go?” Cody gasped, feeling his ribs gingerly. He curled to his side slowly, hoping to get the upper hand in a way that wouldn’t tip the stranger off.

The stranger chuckled breathlessly.

“No.”

They both rolled up onto their knees at the same time. Cody grappled the stranger, who rolled them over until they hit a wall. Space had cleared around them. Most locals were standing far back for safety. Some, to Cody’s dismay, seemed to be recording for the HoloNet.

“Would you just go down already!” said the stranger, digging their fingers into Cody’s hair and trying to slam his head against the wall. Cody bucked his hips, throwing the stranger off.

“Who are you? What do you want?” he snapped, pinning the stranger to the ground. They had a blaster, Cody realised. He was probably lucky the stranger was as prone to hand-to-hand as Cody was. Cody didn’t think about the man he’d already shot today.

“To do my job,” the stranger said. “You’re a wanted man, Commander. I assume you know why.”

“I did my duty,” Cody said. He didn’t know if that was true. Except leaving – that was his duty, most of all. “I’m done with the Empire.”

The Cathar grinned, a cocky, lopsided thing that made Cody want to smack the smug look from their face. “They’re not done with you,” they said. They hooked their leg over Cody and rolled them over one last time, finally drawing their blaster. Cody tried to push it away, but he was too slow; one burst of light later, he was out.

[enden-agolor]

Thingy I did for the Admins AU 🩵💚

Context:

Basically the context of this moment is it takes place a week or something after Jesse and Lukas get their powers. Lukas is far more contained with his. He controls them quite well but Jesse on the other hand.. struggles a *lot*. And the townsfolk see it too. They see how when Jesse gets high up in his emotions, he changes, and his irritation with not being able to control his powers only stresses him out and frustrates him more and that causes like the complete form shift and that puts Jesse through like, the worst stress imaginable. Is knowing he's changing in front of people and not being able to control it and he doesn't feel like the hero he once was at all. He feels like a monster.

Anyways there's a point in time where Jesse just doesn't show his face out in town as much because he's terrified of the judgement. He gets the same strange looks he did before he ever became a hero, back when he was a nobody, so he hides from those interactions. Well Lukas definitely notices, and he ends up taking Jesse out somewhere alone, just the two of them. He takes them both somewhere away from civilization, so Jesse can really practice his stuff.

The big thing that has Jesse losing control of his powers is all of his negative emotions towards himself, so it's definitely going to be a "love solves the problem" kind of deal. I like to think one of the big things they practice is Jesse's ability to fly and stuff, and Lukas, regardless of how much Jesse tries to find a different way, decides that the best way for Jesse to really learn is by letting him hold onto him. Because Lukas is a person with a fragile body that he *knows* Jesse would do everything in his power to keep safe. Jesse though, in his admin form, is very cocky despite his sad feelings so he's kind of a brat about it but Lukas is extremely patient with him, and uhh. Jesse reluctantly holds onto Lukas while he lifts up into the air. He's really huffy and embarrassed about it too because after that whole incident in the cave where Lukas took half of Jesse's powers so he could live, Jesse has developed an unimaginable crush on Lukas. Like he already liked him before but now he's sure he loves him, and he's scared of showing those feelings because of well, how he views himself now. So he's really scared of messing this up or making himself look like a fool in front of Lukas.

But! The plan kind of works, because Lukas talks to him while he flies and since Jesse is focused on his conversation and not his emotions towards the powers themselves, it eliminates that stress and has him calmy maintaining a steady control over his flight. And eventually they're just kind of lazily drifting over the landscape, Lukas holding onto Jesse, them both focusing on the scenery as the late evening arrives and the stars begin to shine.

At this time, Jesse is still in his full admin form, he's blue and his eyes glow an eerie turquoise. But eventually Lukas has him stop and Jesse and him come to a stand in the air, Jesse holding Lukas against him and they look at each other. Lukas tells Jesse that he's so proud of him, and to look and see how much he's grown in such short time. Jesse looks around and, though his face still looks so grumpy, he does realize that they've been flying for a long time with no mistakes.

They share some really kind words to each other, Lukas praising Jesse and Jesse very quietly mumbling his gratitude for Lukas and his patience with him.

And uhh for the first time since the cave, Lukas gives Jesse a nice sweet kiss. Jesse doesn't remember it in the cave. He doesn't remember Lukas kissing him, so this comes as a complete shock (he was suuuper out of it) but quite literally every ounce of negativity drains from his body and he slowly begins reverting back to his original self. In the picture he's still in his admins clothes, but his body looks normal, aside from the crazy messy hair which is an admin trait.

Anyways yeah this is the moment Jesse realizes he for sure loves Lukas. And that kiss, and the kind words they shared, immediately calmed him. But uh. They calmed him so hard that when they kiss again, they both actually start falling out of the sky, and Lukas falls away from Jesse's arms in shock and that's when Jesse gains full control of his flight ability and swoops down to grab Lukas up bridal style in his big strong arms.

Lukas is all like "my hero" (he has the ability to fly too, so he was in no real danger, but the moment caused Jesse to take action instantly and use his powers for good).

That alone helps Jesse realize that these powers *can* be used for good. He's still a big grumpy butt in this form, but he still is that same gentle and loving Jesse deep down.

[wanatasha]

— than usual in attempt to make it up to r because of her anger. yet when she tries to talk to her, w feels as if r is pulling away. smiling blantly, short replies, and just occupied.

little does w know that r had an ex that would constantly yell at her, which she reminded r of !

kind of like a hurt/comfort fic with avoidant r, i would like to see this kind of plot since there hasn’t been a good angst fic lately 😂

thank you for your time, hope you consider my idea !

— 🍂

as the seasons change

wanda maximoff x fem!reader

summary above, thank you so much for the fic idea! I hope this meets what you wanted!!

tw: not proofread, established relationship, hurt/comfort, angst w happy ending, argument, allusions to past abusive relationship with ex, r has avoidant/shutting down tendencies, hinted at college!au, short fic (850 words!)

The season was changing yet again as it does. Trees were losing their leaves as they changed colors and fell and the weather grew colder. A change that neither of you expected with this external change in seasons, was a change in each other. You met each other years ago through friends and instantly you hit it off. 

She matched you well and filled in the gaps where you struggled. She was a breath of fresh air, a difference and contrast to your last partner who made you feel suffocated. Wanda listened when you spoke and communicated clearly with you. She didn’t make fun of your appearance or hobbies, or yell at you if you upset her. You thought so until the other day.

She was driving you home, voice raising in the car as the argument between you grew. It was petty really how it started, but now you both said things you cannot take back. She noticed how quiet you became in the car after she had raised her voice, but assumed it was only because you were upset at her in the moment. She too was upset. But it’s been days since that fight and your facade has yet to drop. 

Nothing brought a smile to your face. She tried to gift you something, she would compliment you–nothing worked and she felt broken. She felt as if she broke you and that alone broke her. On Wednesday she came to you with date plans for that weekend, you accepted. Just the day before you told her you couldn’t make it, and you pleaded with her to not get upset at you. 

On Thursday she came around your place to visit, and somehow it seemed like you knew she would–so you left. On Friday she came again, and you were gone then too. On Saturday, the day she set for your date to happen–you were gone yet again and she had a suspicion you went over to a friends’ house. She paced nervously in your living room before sitting down on a couch and dialing your number. 

“Hi, are you at your friends’ place?”

       “Why?”

“Just worried, haven’t seen you at home for the past few days. Wanted to check in.”

       It goes silent for a minute, “yeah, I am.” 

“Which friend?”

       “Jess.” 

“Okay,” she sighs, “okay, I'm coming over, alright?” 

She hangs up after and grabs her stuff in a hurry. Her car rushes past the roads, moving quick to get to you again. Jess is the one who opens the door, expression not too happy to see you–but she still calls your name. 

“Say one thing, and I’ll get her to break up with you.”

She nods, waiting anxiously for you to show. Down the steps you came, eyes only meeting hers for a second. 

“Could I talk with you,” you step out, meeting her outside with a far off look in your eyes. Everything so unlike you it felt scary. She sits down on the porch seat, looking up at you.

“I am so sorry for the other day. For yelling at you like that. It was uncalled for. Please forgive me.”

    “I forgiven you already.”

She sighs, “you have, but something still feels wrong.”

You’ve gone silent again, so she probes one more time with a soft tone. Your hands rub at your arms and you take a deep breath.

       “I don’t do well with people yelling at me. My ex did that, so it’s just not really a good memory for me.”

Wanda looks as if she could cry. She scoots further on the chair, hesitantly reaching her hand out, “can i,” she asks, only holding yours when you give confirmation.

“I didn’t know, it’s no excuse, but I’m so sorry. That’s terrible and nobody deserves that treatment. I’m so sorry. You’re an angel and I treated you like nothing that night. Please forgive me–”

        You look at her for the first time in a few days, feeling comforted by her loving gaze, “I forgive you.”

She brings her other hand up, cupping it under your hand to bring it to her lips, “I love you.”

        “I love you more.”

[whataboutsimple]

Simple AUs

Or AUs I have idea of, but will never work on. Feel free to use them if you wish to!

1. Villain!Olivia AU or what happens when nerd's idol dies.

Concept is rather simple: after Ellegaard's death Olivia looses it and uses 100% of her brain power to build a "perfect world" where no one will die ever again. Expect for those who won't elaborate of course..

During the WitherStorm she gets into tracker bim for too long and gets withersickennes. Of course she won't tell anyone to not cause any panic. They already have sick Petra, no one should be paying attention to her.

Jesse decides to go and look for Magnus, but why? They need someone smart, someone intelligent, not a walking craze creeper man! Argh, Jesse always took Axel's said.

No- no, no, nonononono- Jesse can't take Ellegaard armor! She finally found someone who understands her passion for redstone, she can't loose her!

What.. what do you mean they lied? What- N-no.. sh-.. no. S-shE coulDn't! SHe diDN't LIE! THAT'S CAN'T BE-

The storm defeated, but her sickness didn't fade away. Ah, might as well make some upgrades for her arm..

Now, now Jesse, don't be so scared- let's work together! Trust me, this.. machine won't let anyone get hurt anymore!

Well, it could've gone better. But, ah, at least now no one can get in my way.

Notes: Olivia got her hand replaced with mechanisms, she got Jesse killed, she uses the same concept as "PAMA" — chiping people to use them.

2. Sky city death AU.

Concept: Instead of landing in the lake, like Jesse normally should, they are too slow to react properly and won't make it in time.

Lukas saw it with his own eyes. He saw Jesse landing to the ground. He saw their inventory laying around like it was a pile of trash.

Even with broken arm Lukas manages to get himself and the Founder back to Sky City. Petra and Ivor are happy until they get the news.

It can't be, right? It's Jesse. They always make it out! Or maybe not this time..

Blaze Rods got arrested and putted in jail until the group will find a way to their home. Lukas won't leave them here. He'll come back and take them to the court back in BeaconTown. He'll do anything to get them pay.

Now the problem is: how will they get back? Without Jesse it's gonna be hard for sure..

Petra and Ivor can't get everyone in the mansion trust them enough, so they make decisions. Lukas almost died from White Pumpkin. They barely made it out alive from the Mansion.

No one made alive from the Mansion expect for them. Cassie Rose got the flint, so now they can only follow her through the portal.

Who can keep Petra sane? She's too irritated and Lukas is no better: he saw his friend's death for fuck sakes! Ivor already saw such tension between Order members.. Old Order members.

They are no match to PAMA. Ivor physically can't do everything alone what Jesse did. Is it the end?

Notes: Lukas arm became useless right after they left Sky City, everyone from the Mansion Episode died expect for the group and Cassie Rose, Cassie Rose managed to escape before main group.

3. Long live the king AU.

Concept: Aiden and Jesse swap places, but keep their original characters. It's hard, but everyone tries their best.

Aiden is noisy and bit of a dumbass.. but they love him, though it's hard sometimes. He doesn't know any limits without them, so it's like controlling an angry pug.

They never understood why he was so rude to Jesse. They were nothing but kind and patient! They even kept Maya and Gill in place. Aiden still didn't like them somewhy.

Okay, this time he got too far. How could he put other people in danger? How could he hurt poor pig? They need to talk and now! Winning ain't worth it!

He promised to apologize. Okay, at least they knew he kept his promises.

Oh, uh, since when Petra and him are friends? Okay, nevermind, she needs help - they will help. Still though last time they checked Petra wasn't a big fan of Aiden's behavior..

What is thing thing?! How are they supposed to defeat it? What are they gonna do? What- wait, Aiden is a good leader actually when it's comes to stress situations.

Okay, maybe they can handle it. If only he could stop throwing those dirty looks at Jesse everytime they do anything..

Notes: Olivia and Axel tries their best to deal with Aiden's behavior, though it can be hard sometimes.. Aiden saved Jesse from tracker bin since they were the closest to him instead of Petra or Gabriel, we will learn through the story how angry gremlin can actually be a good character without erasing his gremlin side.

That's my Top3 for today, guys! Feel free to ask anything you want or use the ideas.

[xerith-42]

I decided to watch Void Paradox

I'm about five minutes into the first episode and I'm still not entirely sure if this is a good idea or not, but Laurance has already spoken like three lines of dialogue and I felt my heart wrench at just one of them, so clearly I'm in too deep now.

This post serves as my live tweeting/mental break down that I am currently having as we speak. It is very incomprehensible because it is literally just my thoughts as they happen, and given how much I have to say, I'll probably make proper posts out of a lot of these points once I finish the series.

This mess is just giving you a taste of the madness I truly posses.

I am only three minutes in before I have to pause and feel the urge to scream about how bad the dialogue in Aphmau series can be. Like this series is fairly okay, especially based on the standard set by her other shows but man... something is just not working here. The whole thing feels very clunky and while I can get the gist of what Jess is going for, the execution of said gist is leaving a lot to be desired.

[Laurance shows up]

nevermind Laurance is on screen and fully voice acted everything is better

Literally nobody talk to me I need to scream about Laurance Zvahl because he is EVERYTHING in this series. The way he very softly says Aph's name when he sees her, the immediate instinct to hug her because he's so relieved to see her, the fact that you can hear the smile in his voice the minute he registers that she's there and alive!! AUGH I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!

And I literally screamed when he revealed that he was transported to this AU right at the end of season 1. Oh my Irene, I screamed. I collapsed. I was truly defeated by a single line of dialogue. I don't know where this series is going to go but I am here for it. And the fact that he knows Garroth did it and hid it from her???

I can't overstate how genuinely healing it is to hear Laurance fully voice acted. I know Sebastian Todd is retired from voice acting, but when he retired, he took down all his posts, including what I considered to be a comfort video. That video of him reading iconic Laurance lines from before he was in mcd/lines he just didn't act? That video was my everything when I was trying to hold onto this version of the character I knew I loved who was different to what Jess made him. When that video got taken down it was a major cowabummer bc there's so little properly voice acted Laurance content that isn't mcd Season 3 or My Street stuff (and I can't stand My Street like 80% of the time)

Hearing his voice, hearing him get to be properly expressive, it's just doing things to me man. I missed this character a lot. I've mostly been enjoying him through fan content or my own work. It's nice to say I enjoy a piece of canon content involving him, at least so far.

Still not sure how I feel about literally anything else. The whole relationship between Aph and Tommy feels very... weird. She describes herself as "basically his mother" after she's left with him, and treats him like it in the opening scene. But then when he's mocking her for being attracted to Laurance (so relatable), it seems really weird for a [checks wiki] 14 year old kid to be calling out his mom for finding someone hot. Feels a lot more like sibling dialogue to me? Which I guess they could be seen as siblings, but the series explicitly stated that she views it like motherhood??? But I don't think Jess is even thinking that deeply about it, I just over analyze her work for fun at this point.

Okay what the actual fuck is going on with the inside of this house???

Why is the color scheme purple and yellow? And not in any kind of flattering way which is possible with opposite colors, it just has both of them. The wallpaper changes when you get into the living room except not entirely on the windows, and in an earlier scene it looked like it wasn't even put onto all of the walls. And the wood that she used as supports just does not compliment either of these colors as they are. Just make it all purple, you know you want to Jess.

Also is the texture on the table and the glass the same??? I don't know a damn thing about modding or making texture/data packs for minecraft but that just seems. odd.

Laurance: mentions the nether Me: [screams just a little]

Tommy: shows up and gives a random ass lore dump Aph: Kay thanks go back to your room

"I don't know what I can do to help."

"Just be there for me. I just need someone to ground me right now."

I literally want to shake Laurance around like a rag doll and give him a stupid kiss on his stupid fucking face UGH why can't I be normal about this block man and his stupid feelings?!?! The way his voice breaks as despair sets in?? The fact that he's no doubt pieced together that Garroth probably stole the amulet and plans to use it to hurt Aph and he can't do anything about it?? I'm literally losing it.

How did I not watch this series before.

Literally about to cry over him just calling Aph "M'lady" out of pure instinct. He didn't consciously do that. He just misses her that much.

oh no spooky evil alternate Laurance or whatever--

MAN I'm so happy I decided to watch this series. This was probably a mistake though :)

[squarebracketsmileyface]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I WOULD KILL FOR BIRDIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WANT MAMA LARK AND PAPA TIM AND BUBA BRIAN AND LITTLE BIRDIE TO JUST BE THE BEST HAPPY FAMILY IN THE WORLD GAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mon I hope you know this will forever be in my brain, all my thoughts, are going to be consumed by them.

Do you think inthe everyone lives au they'd want more kids or are they completely happy with their little surprise miracle? And in that vain, do you think Tim would yeet his uterus/ get his tubes tide after Birdie is born or like, again, maybe perhaps... holding out for the possibility of another....

(Don't mind me, I'm just a fiend with baby fever and the love of projecting onto my favorite guys)

~💜

Oh dude even in the 'canon' of Sorry, It's Locked Tim does end up with another kid.

The second kid is more planned than Birdie but still not entirely planned (as in, he and Brian have been talking about it and have been a bit less careful about using protection, but it still happens a lot sooner than they expected it to lol). They name this kid Jesse and it's a little boy, so Birdie gets a little brother.

In the 'everyone lives' AU I think I'd keep this. Around the time when Birdie is sorta 12-13 ish, after Brian comes back into their lives and eventually starts dating Lark and Tim, he and Tim have a kid as well, and again, that kid is Jesse.

Also Jesse is like, obsessed with his big sister when he's a baby. Like, he only wants to be held by her, he stares at her constantly, y'know? He just really loves his big sister.

OH YEAH WAIT I FORGOT TO TELL YOU SOME STUFF ABOUT BIRDIE IN THE LAST ONE.

Birdie is a bug autistic, she fucking loves insects of all kinds. Every type of insect, there isn't a single one she dislikes. However, Tim really doesn't like bugs much (blame that on waking up in the forest, lying on the floor covered in insects and insect bites) but he tries for Birdie. Like, she wants to raise caterpillars? Sure, they can do that... Except that Birdie releases the butterflies in his room one day and he almost has a panic attack so now he's gotta explain to 3-4 year old Birdie that she really "really can't do that because papa is very scared of bugs, even the pretty ones". Birdie gets it and is allowed to raise caterpillars again, but she does ask if that means she can't dress up as insects for Halloween anymore, if Tim is even scared of the pretty ones.

Obviously, Tim says she is the prettiest bug and only bug he likes. She is very happy and proceeds to dress as a shield bug for the next Halloween. Tim is just very confused by her choice 💀

Confused but supportive dad lol

I think I also forgot to mention some of how Birdie is in 'canon' S,IL while it's just her and Tim. Because even though Tim hides MH from her, he can't really hide the PTSD kinda stuff it left him with. He can't hide the nightmares that wake him up, he can't hide how scared he is when he forgets things, stuff like that. He and Birdie have this kinda routine where if he wakes her up with his nightmare she goes and sleeps in his bed with him. So she'll wake up because he's yelled or something in his dream and she'll go into his room (wake him up if he isn't already awake) and they'll cuddle until they both fall back asleep.

A lot of Tim's nightmares pot MH are about losing people, they're about losing Jay and about losing Brian, they're about killing Alex and lying to Jessica about what really happened and then never seeing her again, stuff like that. But they're also about losing Birdie. They're about sort of "what if" scenarios where he lost her before he even knew he was pregnant, where the fight with Alex at the end caused him to miscarry. They're about losing her to some horrible accident now that he actually has her to look after. They're about the Operator coming back and hurting her. They're about the Operator coming back and Tim doing to Birdie what his mum did to him, sending her away to a mental hospital and rarely coming to visit.

The ones about Birdie are the worst for him, the others he kinda knows how to deal with, he dealt with them during MH and also, they did happen. He did lose those people. In a way that makes it less scary, because it's just reliving the events in a way and he can kinda handle that. But the dreams about losing Birdie? They fuck him up. Some days even sending her off to school after a really bad nightmare about losing her feels like too much and can send him into panic attacks all day.

On days like that he and Birdie have an agreement with the school that Birdie can phone home at break and lunch, and if Tim really needs to he can phone and ask for her outside of break and lunch. He tries not to need that one, he doesn't wanna drag her out of class in front of everyone, he doesn't want the other kids to make fun of her for it, because kids can be mean like that. Birdie doesn't really care what the other kids think. She doesn't even realise that getting called out of class like that could be something to be embarrassed by. All she cares about is "my papa is sad and scared and I can make him feel better by talking to him about bugs" because on those phonecalls she literally just talks about bugs she's seen that day and Tim's just happy to listen and remember that she's alive and safe and strangely obsessed with bugs.

ALSO kinda on the same lines as this, even tho Birdie loves Brian as a teacher, she's kinda suspicious of him when he and Tim get together. Like, not massively, but the first time Brian sees Tim have a nightmare when he stays the night, he ends up getting kicked out of Tim's room by Birdie because she doesn't trust him to know how to help. She kinda gets one of those little kid power trips about being the only one who knows how to look after her papa when he has a nightmare, like, she feels all special because just being there or talking to him makes him feel better, y'know lol?

She gets all high and mighty with Brian and he tries to focus on how funny he finds it rather than panicking about whether Tim is okay.

When Birdie doesn't come out of Tim's room again Brian cracks the door to look in and absolutely melts because Birdie and Tim are sound asleep all cuddled up together. Brian sleeps on the sofa that night and ends up all manners of fucked up because it is NOT a comfy sofa to sleep on and his back is already fucked 💀

Many many spasms were had all the next day. That poor man was not having a good time. Birdie feels sorry for him and tells him that next time he can go and sleep in her bed instead.

He appreciates the offer 💀

It doesn't take much convincing from Tim for Birdie to let Brian stay after the first few times he has a nightmare while Brian is staying over, rather than her causing a whole palava kicking Brian out (cos that's not as simple as just, Brian gets up and walks out of the room, he has to transfer into his wheelchair and make sure he grabs his morning meds in case Birdie won't let him back into the room in the morning when he needs them, and make sure he brings his service dog with him cos she sleeps on the bed with him and Tim, y'know? A little less simple than "get up and walk out". Also his neck is also kinda fucked up from the fall so he has a specific pillow that he always uses, which if he doesn't he always finds his neck all kinda of fucked up in the morning, so he's gotta grab that too lol)

Anyway, eventually Brian just becomes part of their whole nightmare routine and Birdie realises that teaming up with him to look after Tim works way better than doing it on her own. So she and Brian cuddle Tim from both sides and he gets extra reminded that they're both still there. Also Brian's service dog is probably trained to help with PTSD, cos no way Brian isn't also a little fucked in the head after MH, so she can task and do deep pressure for Tim. She's a bit confused at first cos usually she does it for Brian, but she gets it very quickly. Birdie is delighted that a dog can be taught to cuddle on command.

Oh shit you asked about tubes tied and stuff as well lmao. Sorry I got so distracted.

I think after they have Jesse, Tim gets a hysterectomy and all that. He doesn't wanna go through pregnancy and birth a third time, so they get that done so he doesn't have to worry about it. He jokes that if Brian or Lark wants another kid they'll have to figure out which one of them is gonna carry it.

He'd be happy to have another kid, all three of them have pretty good jobs now (Lark's the big moneymaker for the family with Tim close behind, Brian's still a teacher because he adores kids) so they could support a third kid financially, but if they want another kid, they're gonna have to adopt or go through a surrogacy thing rather than Tim carrying it like with Birdie and Jesse.

Oh yeah also the kids names:

Birdie is "Birdie Amelia Wright"

Jesse is "Jesse Alexander Thomas"

Yes, I know it's dumb but I love it. Jesse for Jessica. Alexander for Alex. Amelia for Amy. Tim names his kids so that people who were lost to MH are still kept alive in a little way (yeah yeah Jessica is still alive, but Tim has no way of getting in touch with her so nyeh). In the 'everyone lives' AU that kinda doesn't work as well so Jesse's middle name would probably be different in that, cos Alex is still alive lol. But yeah.

@pianofirepirate helped me come up with the Kids full names :]

I've ranted to them about this shit so much recently lol.

SPEAKING OF RANTING TO THEM here's another thing we came up with:

In the 'canon' of S,IL Birdie does eventually find out about MH. Probably about when she's 15-17 I think? One of her friends tells her about it, like, mentions that her dad's look like two of the guys from this old YouTube horror series and shows her a couple things that people managed to save before Tim deleted the MH channel and all that, cos even in universe I like to think MH got relatively popular, with people thinking it was a fictional horror series. It starts a WHOLE conversation at home with Tim and Brian where they have to explain that yeah all that stuff happened to them, no they really don't remember a lot of it (especially Brian), yes people think it's fictional but it's not, etc etc etc.

Tim and Brian are upset that some 'random' kid at school showed MH to Birdie, but over all it's not a world ending thing. What it does do though, is open the floodgates on jokes about stuff that happened in MH. E.g. "can't believe you pushed me off a building" jokes. Brian uses that one so often and Tim just sighs dramatically and comes back with "First of all, you fell! And also YOU'D BEEN STEALING MY MEDS FOR YEARS AND I DIDNT KNOW WHO YOU WERE BEHIND THAT STUPID MASK!" And Birdie just sits back and watches in glee. She finds it hilarious.

Though the first time Brian accused Tim of pushing him she did go "you pushed him off a building!?!?" Like, completely taken aback and they had to explain the whole thing to her and they probably showed her the video so she could see what actually happened.

Honestly I think that maybe once Birdie is like, 18 they end up putting all the videos back up. Maybe they only privated them rather than deleting them idk. But yeah I think after a while they'd just silently put the videos back up and all the lost media people rejoiced, and there's just the unspoken thing that Birdie can watch the videos if she wants to.

She doesn't.

Like, she watches a little bit of it here and there. But she never actually sits down and watches everything, she just doesn't feel like it's something she needs to do. She watches enough to know who the people being talked about by her dads are (Amy, Jessica etc etc etc) and she watches a couple entries with Jay in them over and over and over again. But generally, she just doesn't want to watch the whole thing, y'know. She doesn't watch all of MH and she hasn't seen a single TTA video.

Wait that reminds me now again (sorry, I keep fucking doing this)

That whole thing with Tim sometimes needing to phone Birdie's school and just, like, make sure she's still alive. That doesn't fully go away when Birdie gets older and goes off to college/university. Tim's always been a bit of a helicopter parent and though he gets better at it, he and Birdie do make time to phone each other pretty much every night. Mostly it's just Birdie talking about her day and what she's been up to, and Tim listening. Occasionally he'll chip in with bits about his day, but mostly he's happy to listen to her talking about her studies. (She's gonna be a bug scientist. I can't remember what they're called. But she's gonna be a big scientist, specifically working in conservation of insects).

If Birdie misses a phone call one evening Tim will definitely start to panic a bit, but he makes sure he only sends her one or two texts to check in before he forces himself to put his phone down and go spend time with Brian and/or Jesse :]

Cos while Birdie's uni age, Jesse is only like, idk 10 at most? So Tim still has a lot to do, y'know? Jesse keeps him and Brian occupied and while he's looking after/spending time with Jesse, Tim manages to take his mind off worrying about Birdie pretty well.

[herdelreydear]

„xo xo“

pt.1

warnings: alcohol, smoking, modern!au, drummer!abby, basist!ellie, fem!reader

summary: after moving to a small town to be there for your best friend while she needs you , you start working at a bar. The lokal band that plays there every sunday seems pretty interesting after spotting a blond haired and pretty attractive drummer

{not proofread}

notes: I promise the second part is going to be more spicy, I think this is going to be a small series maybe a bit slow burn but maybe the next chapter is going to be nsfw idk yet :.) also i’m new here so i‘d appreciate reposts, likes or even comments so so much <33

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Things were going to be different this summer, you felt it. After a long winter it finally started to get warm again, and the sun felt so good. While blasting music through your headphones you walked towards the little bar your friend mentioned, hoping to find them searching for new workers.

Since you moved here you didn't really had the time to focus on applying to a new job, all that mattered was to be there for your friend. Dina was one of the people, you would do something crazy like that for.

Moving to a small town because she had just broken up with her boyfriend and being on the edge of an identity crisis you were there to support her. But because of everything being pretty spontaneous the time and money it'd take to find a new place wasn't something you had right now. Till you'd manage to do so, Dina let you stay at hers.

„stay as long as you want cutie!" was what she told you the day you arrived at hers. But god no you didn't wanted to ruin her privacy and personal space. Her apartment wasn't big, and you knew she didn't like sharing her place (that's why she never moved in with Jesse, her Ex boyfriend).

She wasn't satisfied with you having to find a new job just to afford living here and stressing about finding a place to live just because she wasn't stable enough to be on her own right now. But Dina knew that you would do nearly anything for her because she was always there for you too, through hard and rough times she never turned her back on you. You two kind of became each others family.

The little bar she mentioned was just about 10 mins away, and while you walked there you got to know the small town. Pretty old houses and lots of greens and gardens. Where you stayed before was very different from that. Dina lived with you before she decided to move here because of Jesse, and you couldn't afford it yet to visit her and now you're moving here anyways. God, Dina is lucky that you're pretty easy when it comes to moving around, some people might would've lost a good job with moving spontaneously. Not you. After moving away from your dad, you tried to work as much as possible to afford your apartment and the food for your two cats. From being a bartender to working as a cleaning force, you did it all and you didn't mind. At least you didn’t had to share a place with anyone but Dina after moving out from you dad’s.

The bar was really sweet, Dina just knew what you liked. When you stepped in a little bell rang, and the person behind the counter bar glanced a welcoming smile at you.

"hey! you're new here right?" she nodded in your direction and you came closer while looking around.

"yeah, is that so obvious?" in this town they probably all ready knew everyone's face. You gave her a little smile.

"Kind of, yeah" she pointed at a board that showed all the drinks and prices. You thought about what to order. "Just a small coffee, please" you answered counting your money. After you gave it to her you sat down at a barstool right in front of her. "I'm Cat." she held her hand towards you and you shook it lightly. "y/n" taking a sip of the coffee she just had put right in front of you. Tilting your head to the side, unsure to ask you started: „Do you guys..perhaps..need another hand?" She looked up at you "I'm sorry i don't want to bother but I kinda really need that money right now-" you brabbel faster than your thoughts can follow. Silence. She looks at you with a little smile. "you're lucky you're talking to the chef right now."

„Dina!“ with a grin on your face you shouted her name while entering her apartment. You heard music coming from the kitchen and as you came in you saw her in front of the kitchen counter. As always she looked as if she knew what she’s doing but that was just her confidence. Sometimes you really questioned how she managed to live on her own with those cooking skills. „hey“ she smiled and turned her head over to look at you for a sec. „Guess who’s gonna start working tomorrow“ holding back a big smile you walked over to her to look at what exactly she was cooking. „No way-„ she looked surprised. „oh yeah“ with a grin on her lips she turned over to hug you. „NO WAY!“ she repeated while hugging you excited. „Oh my god tell me everything about how you managed to get the job right away!“ you started telling her about the sweet manager that was pretty young for an owner and how open she was with helping you by applying to the job at her bar. Dina was really proud of you and rewarded you with the dinner she cooked. Surprisingly it tasted better than anything she ever cooked for you. You noticed how she changed since you last met her. But that wasn’t a bad thing. Better cooking skills, and she became so independent (you were an exception). You were happy that she broke up with Jesse after she told you how off their relationship became after being together for 2 years. Since she moved here to be with him all the time they started to notice that they just didn’t fit together anymore. „maybe it‘s time for a girl again“ Dina joked. Her last relationship with a girl didn’t ended that well either. You chuckled. Summer just started and you were both single, could be worse.

Time goes by, and after two weeks of working you settled in. Working at the bar was exhausting, but fun. This sunday was your first shift while a band would play. That meant: working all day and working late. But at least they maybe would play something you’re into? Dina joked about the band members and how she thought lokal bands always consisted of some old people that had nothing to do anymore. Great. A bit downturned you got ready that Sunday. While looking into the mirror you tilted your head to look at your face from different angles. Why don’t try something new? You normally didn’t wear that much make up, but foundation, mascara and a nude lipstick were your go-to. Maybe some dark red lipstick for today would make you feel more confident (you also thought of how you could get a bigger tip if you’d do that to be honest). Working at the bar your clothes had to be subtle so you mostly wore all black but comfy. Sticking to that tonight you wore comfy black jeans and a black top with lace framing your cleavage. Putting on your silver hoops and necklaces you felt complete.

„looking hawt“ Dina approached you with a grin. „So i’ll see you tonight when the gig starts right?“ you nodded. „Should I bring some food? I mean you’ll be already working hours when it starts..“

„No thanks Dina, but very sweet of you. I’ll take something from the store for the way“ you pouched a kiss on her cheek, teasingly knowing it’d leave a red kiss stain she’d be annoyed about and waved her goodbye.

Arriving at the bar you saw the band’s equipment already built up on the little stage across from the counter you’d be working. Nice, so at least you’d see something and it wont get boring working that long.

„Sooo in the band are Manny, Owen, Ellie and Abby“ you nodded, not really knowing what you could’ve answered. „Don’t worry you’ll get to know them over time, they had a break for the last couple of weeks but now they’re back and luckily playing for the Planet.“ (The Planet = name of the bar) „So.. what genre do they play?“ you asked while starting to wash some of the used glasses in the sink.

„hmm they most of the time just cover songs, I‘d say rock and metal because they love to cover classics from the 70s“ interesting. „and some other alternative sub genre, but don’t worry you’ll enjoy if you like hot men making music“ cat grinned and leaned over to you. You started laughing and shaking your head. „No not really, i’m on the other team.“

„girls? I like that. I think you’ll love the drummer and the basist then“ you raised your brows. „I’m gonna have to work cat, not crushing on some band members that’s something i’ll leave to you“ you chuckled and she just shrugged. „Well, I’ll definitely enjoy the show. By the way, don’t underestimate us. Just because it’s a smaller town, people from elsewhere come here too when they’re playing.“ Cat left and you were alone at the counter. No visitors yet, so you could relax. Listening to the radio, you hummed quietly while focusing on getting everything ready for tonight.

„They’ll soon start, why don’t you get a small break before the bar fills?“ Cat came by to check on you after some hours of your shift and you took the opportunity and went through the back door outside.

You were about to search for your cigs in your pockets, when a group of people came closer. Before you could care to look up a girl came closer. „You want one?“ a girl with long blond hair in one braid held a pack right in front of you, now you looked up. You smiled shyly and nodded. „Uh..Thank you, and sorry i forgot mine“ you said without being asked but you were nervous and it just came out. Gosh she was so pretty.. Her little smirk, her nose covered in freckles and her whole appearance seemed to attract you. After you took a cig between your lips she immediately took out a lighter. You looked up at her to look in her eyes while she lit it for you. You inhaled and took a step backwards to fully look at her. Exhaling. „Thanks“

„You work here?“ her voice was a bit raspy and her big hoodie hid whatever was under there, you could just imagine. The other people of here group circled around you two and you started to reckon who these people were. Not bad, even Dina would find them attractive and yet she didn’t date a musician. „Yeah I do, I’m new here though“ you smiled and the others started to greet you too. „Yeah I would’ve recognized you otherwise“ she grinned and while she exhaled the smoke she respectfully tilted her head to the other side.

„Nice to have you guys here, Cat told me about you. Seems like we should be honored to have you playing at the Planet“ you jokingly exaggerated a bit and they chuckled. „I’m Abby by the way“ she looked to the right „that’s Manny,“ pointed to the other guy „Owen. And that-„ she layed her arm around the girl on her left „is my girl Ellie“ they all smiled at you and you also introduced yourself. So, she has a girlfriend? Not that you really should take the first hot girl that seemed like your type that kind of works with you. Ellie was also more masculine, a thing you were most of the time attracted to. She was a bit smaller and less talkative then the blonde. Anyways, you should focus on your work first, dating comes last. Even though you were more then desperate. You needed to get laid soon our you’d actually just grab the next best lesbian that was down to fuck.

When y’all finished the smokes you walked them back into the bar, or they walked you in there. Next to them you looked so unintimidating it was almost embarassing. You walked back to the counter while they went to the set up across from you. Staring at them you didn’t notice how full it got and had to take some orders right away. While serving the costumers one of the guys, you forgot the name, started opening their gig.

God, it got so full you became a bit stressed, but when you saw Dina coming in you relaxed a bit. People started to move away from the counter and gathered around the little stage.

„hey sexy barmaid“ she squeezed herself through a group of men that just ordered, to get to you. „So no old men band, god for you“ you rolled your eyes. „And for you too right?“ she giggled. „yeah of course“ she sat on a barstool infront of you and glanced over her shoulder. „damn, they actually are surprisingly good looking..“ pouring shots for another costumer you nodded. „i know..“ she leaned back to you. „The brown haired one seems to be your type. Tatts, short hair?“ you shrugged, she just knew you to well. But she didn’t knew that your eyes were on the other girl only. Now, while thinking about her you tried to see her through the small crowd. She was the drummer, of course. You raised your brows, she had taken her hoodie off, god…you blushed embaressed. Her arms toned, and muscles flexed from playing the drums. A view you couldn’t deny to find very appealing. Hoping Dina wouldn’t notice your red cheeks, but the lights were dimmed and drawn to the stage.

„Am I right??“ Dina tried to get your eye contact. „hello bar momma i’m talking to you“ you snapped out. „Dina gosh let me enjoy the view for a moment“ you laughed and she ordered something. While mixing her a drink you two talked about how she needed someone to get over Jesse and how you needed to get laid. And coincidentally there was a group with potential right infront of you.

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y’all are welcomed to give any tips/ideas for the next chapters! I have some ideas in mind but maybe you guys have ideas on how to make things more spicy🐇

[trojanteapot]

Obligatory Infinity Train Fanfic Plug I Guess

I have some new followers since I posted about my Infinity Train cosplay process so I guess now's a good time to plug my boring overly-long fanfics that are mostly sad and stuff.

SHIPPING FICS

RYMIN:

Ain't No Cure For Love: Ryan and Min-Gi perform their first gig in Montreal. Min-Gi wants to confess his feelings. (First fic I ever wrote probably a bit rough now and the only fic without any sort of theme besides "love wins" i guess) It Can't Be Helped: Takes place in the mid-2000s when Ryan and Min-Gi's band have become quite successful and are touring East Asia. Ryan has some cultural identity issues to overcome at the age of like, 40-something. (This one is much much better than the first Rymin fic, and is about more than just shipping. I did a ton of research into Japanese-Canadians and Korean-Canadians for it as well! Shout-out to my partner for his huge role in shaping this fic as he is Japanese-Canadian himself.)

GRIMON:

Raison d'Etre (PART 1) (PART 2): Post-Canon AU where Simon survives the Train. Grace and Simon spend about 4 years apart from each other living their own lives on Earth, but one day Grace shows up randomly in Quebec to pay Simon a visit. Traumatic wounds get reopened, things get emotional, philosophical, maybe even a little... sociopolitical? Also interspersed between Grace and Simon's little dates are flashbacks to the Train that explain exactly how Simon managed to leave the Train in this AU.

I separated it into two halves because the second half contains smut. However, the second half kind of needs to be read for there to be a complete story. The smut is entirely skippable and doesn't contribute to the overarching plot so I do encourage you to read both halves.

(Also of note is that this takes place not in the "present" but in the past (2018), because I am An Old Person(TM) and so I made Grace and Simon millennials. And I also didn't want to write about the pandemic. It's not that noticeable and you can ignore that timeline fuckery if you want.)

True Love Waits: (VERY VERY CURSED) Sort of not a shipping fic? But Grace gets pregnant here and we all know who the father is! So Grace needs to leave the Train before the baby is born. Canon complacent so Simon is dead. (TW: other than pregnancy there's also thoughts of self-harm and mentions of abortion)

Leave It In My Dreams: Grace's sad nightmare in Alma Mater but from Simon's perspective.

Shame On You, Blue-Eyed Fox: Grace lets her guard down and harassed by a rookie cop. Simon finally makes himself useful for once in his entire life. (TW: real world racism obviously.)

GENERAL FICS

Alma Mater: Post-Canon. Tulip starts college, is very typically Tulip about it, but she befriends an older student named Grace Monroe who helps her through it. However, Tulip comes to learn that she and Grace have more in common than they realized at first. Also Jesse and Lake get thrown into the mix and drama ensues. (Mostly canon complacent except for 1. time period, and 2. Grace is from California, not DC, but her parents work in DC.)

Initial State: A side story to Raison d'Etre. After Simon realizes he's wrong he works with the Cat to bring his number down and leave the Train. But this isn't as easy as he thought especially when he meets a denizen he's recently met before, but never expected to meet again (becausehekilledherlol).

Semi-Automatic Lonely Boy: Prequel to Raison d'Etre. Just a series of vignettes of Simon's life after returning to Earth. (TW: depictions of self-harm) Other than It Can't Be Helped, this is the other fanfic that I am the most proud of so far. Literally went and relearned French to write some of the dialogue in this.

I'll Get It Right Sometime (ongoing): Four years after Book 3, Hazel and Amelia have a pretty decent life on the Train. But this peace is interrupted when Hazel meets a passenger and decides to help him through the Train. How can Amelia keep Hazel safe? Who is this passenger anyway? Why is the Cat so interested in interfering? Why is Simon somehow involved?! Why is JESSE somehow involved?!?!??! (Note: I think Hazel ages normally, so she's 10 years old in this one.) This is also my most ambitious fanfic yet. I have an Entire Homestuck Reference chapter, a Reddit chapter, and I plan to have several Discord chapters.

[soutcftime]

HOPE!HOB x DREAM AU.

Just read this days ago anddd went wildd.

(I already explain this, but I like to think if the child of Time and Night are Endless, the kids between Light and Reality are Eternals (because I saw a lot of people struggling with the Hope!Hob AU) )

Hope was the third child between Light and Reality, right after Hallow and Hale. He was a beautiful young kid, full of life and happiness, curiosity and kindness, Hope was the resilience symbol. The Eternal sing of peace between them and the Endless.

Of course, The Eternals were nothing like the Endless, since Lady Light and Lady Reality can't have their own kids, they create them from the best parts of each other. Perfects anthropomorphic representations.

"What is my name?"

"You are Hope. Our Hope"

Hope already love life. He embraces every living thing and enjoy every new thing that appear in his way, he loves his gift, he loves every creature and he absolutely love to share his own vision with them. The passion about life, his life! His own hopes and expectations about how the universe would change next.

Then he met Dream of the Endless. And he loves him. Hope loves Dream since the beginning, he uses to say that every Dream comes with Hope. They were best friends. Hope loves the Endless, despite the old fight that their family has had, Hope loves all the Endless siblings.

"You should not spend so many time with them, my Hope" Mother Reality speaks to him. "I do not want one of my child end like them" she said, but he cannot understand what was she talking about. He nods anyway, he can never disagree with his Mother.

But he can't stand away of Dream.

"Dream!" Hope walks in the Dreaming, enter the throne room being followed by Lucienne. "I have news! Wonderful news!"

"Hello Hope" Dream greet him with a little smile, "What have you done now?" he ask, looking at Hope already going up from the stairs, leaving little sparkles as he walks with excitement.

"Hi Jess," he greet the crow in Dream's shoulder, then look at Dream again. "I met humans!" he clap with happiness, little sparkles jumping off his hands.

Dream frowns. "Humans?" his tone was pure disgust, looking at Hope with a disapproving look.

Hope blinks, cocking his head. "Humans" he nods, the hopeful tone stills in him. "Beautiful creatures, so full of life, so imperfects and perfects at the same time" Hope smiles looking Dream's disgusting face with amusement.

"Have you been in the Waking world?" he ask, worried for the answer that Hope can give to him.

Hope giggle a little, looking at the stars in the sky. "I have" he say. "They called me Hob" he giggle again, with his hair full of sparkles. Dream frown with anger, the blue sea of his eyes covering with full void.

"They called you what?" he say, his voice going deep. "How dare they? How dare you? Allowing mortals, humans, disrespect you in that way?" Hope smiles, holding Dream's hand carefully.

"Dream, you did not need to be mad, my dear. They were lovely. I introduced myself as Hope, they might have heard wrong but it's a beautiful nickname" the little stars in Dream's eyes focus on him, "You should come with me to the Waking, you will love them"

"No. I think I should not" Dream say, taking his hand and walking away. "And you should not come back to that place, that is not the place were you belongs Hope. You do not belong between humans, that might end bad" Dream looked at him, his blue eyes back at his place.

Hope smiles, "Perhaps" he say, "But I love humanity, I want to see everything" Dream cock his head, "I shall leave now. See you around, Dream Lord." Hope bowed, "Bye Jessamy!" he say, before leaving the realm.

[yeehanfrf]

Week 4 Recs: The Rivalmance

This week's Yeehan fic recs were all about "The Rivalmance." That's enemies-to-lovers, rivals-to-lovers, competitive assholes-to-lovers. If you like Yeehan, you know the vibe! Check out the recs gathered from the Yeehan community below, organized by rating then alphabetically by title.

Teen and Up

Hana Song's Guide on How to Not be Weird by LeftHand [27,710 words] Reccer comment: "Still uses the old cowboy name but I love it all the same"

Hanzo would never believe that Hana Song could give such stellar advice or display such wisdom beyond her years. He never expected to make a home for himself among the members of Overwatch. To make peace and find hope in life once again. But he did. He also never expected to get lassoed onto a mission with the most reckless, infuriating, irritating man he'd ever meet. A man in serious need of some guidance. With Hanzo Shimada as his best bet for a clear head? Not being weird is a lot harder than it sounds.

Author's note: This work is not officially completed and has a very round-about ending. I do not plan on ever writing a true final chapter but would still consider the work worth reading. Thanks!

Mature

The 85th Annual King County Bake-Off by venvephe [WIP; 37,995 words] Reccer 1 comment: "Warning: incomplete Still a good au tho" Reccer 2 comment: "Unfinished (4/5 chaps and currently ends at a cliffhanger) but set in a fun AU that makes for charming rivals to lovers YH fic and a fun read."

It’s October first, and it’s all come down to this.

The cake is perfect. He’s been waiting for this moment all year, since the previous baking competition. This is his chance at redemption, at reclaiming the crown of the best baker in the county. It’s a title only the winner of the county fair can hold. He’s waited a year and spent hours upon hours at work. Early mornings and late nights, scrapped ideas and tons of flour and sugar went into his masterpiece. It’s all led to him to standing here, awaiting the announcement of the winners.

This year, it’s going to be Hanzo. Last year’s winner - his rival, his nemesis - is going down. Hanzo’s not going to let his mortal enemy take the crown for a third year in a row.

What kind of name is Jesse McCree, anyways?

Howlin' for you by Mifune [17,489 words] Reccer comment: "a good ff if you enjoy bounty hunter Hanzo×wanted Cassidy!"

McCree makes a stop in Dorado, Mexico, before answering the Recall and meets a mysterious man in a bar that promises to make his night a lot more interesting. or McCree wants to do the right thing, Hanzo is sarcastic and there is a lot of emotional baggage unpacked in one night.

Ricochet by robocryptid [24,016 words] Reccer 1 comment: "Cassidy doesn't want to rejoin Overwatch. Too bad Overwatch doesn't take no for an answer and sends a hot stranger to hunt him down."

Reccer 2 comment: "A fun cat-and-mouse spin on Rivalmance. It’s super engaging, the pacing is impeccable and the chemistry is off the charts. I had so much fun reading (and re-reading) this!"

Cole toppled a government or two, caused a few explosions, murdered more bad guys than he can count, and probably a few innocents too. He caused more collateral damage — ruined more lives — than he’ll ever account for, and the world didn’t change a bit. He did his time, and he’s not going back.

Too bad Overwatch doesn’t want to take no for an answer.

Explicit

Acceptable Substitute by mataglap [47,494 words] Reccer comment: "I go back and reread this so often i think I'm at least 30% of the read stats"

Hanzo has lived without certain things for so long that he has all but forgotten about them. Cassidy is a bright red exclamation mark of a reminder, and Hanzo discovers that the saying "out of sight, out of mind" unfortunately also works in reverse.

Meanwhile, Cassidy is an exceptional liar, and the most egregious of his lies are the ones he tells himself.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by KittenzCaboodle [WIP; 34,828 words] Reccer comment: "Then I can't not push this ff enough! It's probably one of my favorites!!"

The man first in line for the Shimada throne was the last picture that Cole had been given to memorize. Hanzo Shimada. They had said it was unlikely that he would be sent, as he was too important for such menial tasks, but he was the next likely candidate according to Genji.

He gazed longingly towards the door, aching to step outside and get a fresh breath of the cool night air. As he silently grumbled about the sweat rolling down his back, the bodies grinding against each other in the club making the place hot and steamy in all the wrong ways, he saw him.

Of all the people in the world, Hanzo Shimada, the worst possible person, had just walked through the door and was putting their entire Blackwatch mission at risk.

Somehow, Cole had to distract him long enough to for Genji to get out, and he was willing to do whatever it takes, even if he was caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.

But when the Devil buys you dinner and is one of the nicest people you've ever met, then things get confusing.

Binary System by mataglap [14,150 words] Reccer comment: "it's one of my comfort series for this ship, it's really funny, both characters are really well written and very in character, and honestly i just absolutely adore everything this amazing writer make"

Hanzo is arrogant and Cassidy is stubborn, which results in the world's strangest game of chicken.

Ichigo by morrezela [27,121 words] Reccer comment: "Qualifies if you squint? YeeHan break-up and aren't very civil to each other for a while"

They break up on a Wednesday.

Nocturne by delicaterosebud [61,160 words] Reccer comment: "This is probably the most bittersweet 'enemies to lovers' I’ve ever read. Some parts of this fic made me a bit uncomfortable, but in a good way (if that makes any sense…)"

After his mentor goes missing in the forest of Aokigahara, Jesse McCree, a member of the world-renowned Overwatch hunting guild, finds himself alone in his desire to save him. Receiving little support from his teammates, who have deemed his rescue effort to be too risky, Jesse must turn to an unexpected - and rather unpleasant - companion for aid.

During their travels together, however, he and the demon named "Hanzo" grow closer, and Jesse learns that the concept of good and evil isn't quite as simple as he had presumed.

One Man's Hero by mataglap [WIP; 99,485 words] Reccer 1 comment: "I can't not rec this one for enemies to lovers!!"

Reccer 2 comment: "A superhero AU ripe with action, beautifully charged and meaningful emotional scenes, superb characterization, meticulous world-building and just stellar writing. I especially enjoyed the side characters in this!"

Hanzo Shimada is an assassin, a murderer, and decidedly not a hero, let alone a superhero — and yet.

Popcorn Redemption by wyntera [WIP; 266,692 words] Reccer comment: "A classic, unfinished but great"

They say life isn't like the movies.

Well, partner, they ain't never worked for Overwatch.

Shift, Refresh by robocryptid [3,168 words] Reccer comment: "bursting through the door with this"

There are worse ways to start the morning after than with the walk of shame. It's not at all what Hanzo planned, but it might be what he deserves.

Survival Instinct by mataglap [36,485 words] Reccer comment: "Very well written, Hanzo's characterization was on point. Also I love remorseful/guilty Cole."

Cassidy takes a new monster hunting contract. It's pretty decent as contracts go: the pay is good, the perks even better, and he's got two competent companions to fight at his side when the monsters come.

Then a third companion arrives and ruins everything.

to lie down with dogs by motorghost [65,540 words] Reccer comment: "practically bursting at the seams with tension, at times almost suffocating (I mean this in the most complimentary way possible)."

Hanzo and Cole are on a top-secret reconnaissance mission in the industrialized wasteland of post-Crisis North Dakota, hunkered down in a factory ill-fit for human occupation. Cole seems fine with the situation, but Hanzo's doubts extend far beyond their little room.

That brings Week 4 to a close! Thank you to everyone who sent in a recommendation! Keep an eye out for next week's theme: "Golden Oldies," or fics from 2016 and 2017!

In the meantime, you can also check out the Week 3 recs here or see the list of past and future themes here!

[julianobungus]

Simon begins to avoid mirrors and any reflective surfaces, but no one pays attention to this at first. It is difficult to connect together the fact that Simon drinks liquids quickly, quickly walks past mirrors or chooses a route where they are not at all, turns the phone away from himself before turning it on, and many other details.

But after some time, Jesse tells Lake that Simon reminds him of how Lake behaved when they were on the Train, and Lake puts the facts together. For some reason, Simon avoids his reflection.

Lake is determined to find out the reason and immediately goes to Simon. And reluctantly, he confesses that his reason is that he is ashamed that his reflection has seen and heard everything that Simon has been doing with Denizens for years. His mirror self repeated his actions and harmed others' mirror selves because it had to repeat Simon's actions.

Lake thinks for a long time about what to say to Simon. And then she just brings a mirror and asks Simon's reflection to break the rules at least once and talk to his prime. Simon is sitting with his arms around his legs and his face buried in them, and suddenly he hears his own voice telling him to look in the mirror. Simon raises his head and sees his reflection, which smiles at him with a kind smile and tells him that everything is fine and Mirror Simon does not hold a grudge against him. And then he adds that, unlike some girl, it is vital for him to follow the rules, after which Mirror Simon continues to repeat Simon's actions. After that, Simon stops avoiding reflective surfaces.

Ah!! Man, this is so cute and heartfelt! This is what Simon needs to hear, for real. I feel like this would be one of the things to help Simon and Lake grow closer together as friends.

Also, I'm intrigued by the idea of a mirror Simon - always watching him, not judging him for his past actions - did he forgive him after hating him for a while, or did he always sympathise/empathise with Simon? So many good questions and avenues here...

I love this Simon Lives AU we've all moulded together ... it heals me

[rainbow-shine]

Okay, I'm sorry for making everything about supernatural, but like, I literally can't stop thinking about a TLOU AU. 

Dean's a mechanic who lives happily with Emma, his daughter. It's just the two of them and even though not everything's perfect, they make it work and just really love each other. Sam's studying law at Stanford or something and has a generally good life as well; maybe he has met Jess already, they're disgustingly in love and equally happy. Everything's as good as it can be.

Then the Cordyceps happens.

Emma dies. Jess dies. And the entire world dies with them.

Dean and Sam essentially become what Tommy and Joel were in TLOU, living nightmares just wanting to survive at any cost. Their hearts hardened and their humanity died the same day their family did. The years go by and the world's still in decline; scavenging, slavery and public executions are the new normal. 

Eventually, they break apart, and Dean ends up in the QZ of Illinois, where he meets a FEDRA agent named Castiel. Obviously, they start on the wrong foot and hate each other to death, but eventually they end up warming to each other; they become allies, friends, best friends and then something they don't quite know how to name. They create a whole smuggling and trade operation without the knowledge of FEDRA and are equally parts feared and admired in the QZ. Both of them have done and continue to do horrible, awful things, but they find peace and perhaps even a certain type of contentment in each other. In a kinder world, they would've called that feeling love.

Of course, Dean wants to go look for Sam. And while Cas isn't exactly on board with leaving the safety net they've built in Illinois, he won't let Dean go on a mad and dangerous quest alone. So, they began to plan.

This is the point where they meet the fireflies; where they meet an allegedly immune child. Neither of them really wants to know anything about this whole vaccine/cure for mankind thing, but the pay promises to be good, and they kinda need it, so they accept. 

They take Jack out of the QZ. Both of them are distrustful and weary of the kid; meanwhile, Jack is his usual self, trusting and perhaps a bit naive. He is amazed by the world and, even though he has faced loss before, he's still optimistic and innocent. Cas, of course, is the first one to warm up to him. They bond really quickly. Dean's puzzled by the gentleness Cas shows to this random kid. It doesn't really bother him, but he doesn't understand it either.

Then, a lot of bad things happen. Like a lot. 

But they stay together. They become a unit. Together, Dean and Cas are a deadly force, and the fact that now they have something dear, something valuable to protect, they become even fiercer. Jack learns a lot, too, about the world from before and the world from now; he learns how trust is hard to give and kindness is a strength not many have. Dean softens and Cas warms. They, however unintentional it was, became a family.

And then Cas gets hurt. Not infected. Just hurt. Something serious enough that would be a threat to his life if he stays on the road. 

So, they find Sam, who has found his place in the world in Lebanon, Kansas. With Eileen. They help Cas, and they settle there for a moment. But Sam and Eileen find out where the fireflies are and point the direction to Dean, who is... reluctant to take Jack without Cas.

He doesn't know how to be a parent anymore. He's not the same man who put Emma to bed with a lullaby and a kiss. Not only that, but he doesn't want to taint Jack's light; he doesn't want to hold him with his blood-stained hands. Cas was the one who understood the kid, he was just the shield that kept him safe. Nothing more and nothing less. 

But Jack clings to him all the same and Dean, despite everything, has a soft heart.

So, with a kiss on Cas' forehead and a very long hug, Dean leaves with Jack. 

And things are... Good.

Jack shares Dean's love for crappy puns and weird pop culture references. They bond over old comic books and movies. Without Cas, they become more dependent on each other. It comes to the point where they don't know how to live apart anymore. They, without even noticing, start planning for a future together; about how they are going to decorate their house in Kansas, what jobs Dean and Cas will take and how Jack could go back to school, a normal school. For the first time in a long time, Dean feels hopeful. 

They arrive at the hospital and fireflies take their dreams away from them.

And the thing is, one year ago, Dean would've done it. He would've given up Jack without hesitation. He would've felt like crap, but he would've convinced himself it was for the greater good. When Jack was nothing but a stranger; when he was nothing more than a sweet, weird kid, they paid him to get out of the QZ, he would've done it. 

But not now.

Not now, when that kid had become his kid.

Dean doesn't think twice about saving him. He's not feeling anything while he murders everyone who dares to stand between him and his child. He doesn't hear the pleas for mercy or the screams of hate, he hyperfocus on finding Jack before it's too late. He's dooming the world and he's doing it without guilt and without regret. Carrying Jack in his arms, taking him away from there, feels like a victory, like a second chance.

After that, he takes his kid home, where he will be safe.

He lies to Jack. He lies to Sam. He lies to everyone.

But he doesn't lie to Cas.

Cas, who wants to feel anger, betrayal, or even sadness; who was a FEDRA agent, who still remembers and griefs about what the world used to be. Cas, who wants to feel something else besides relief. Because Jack's alive, because his little, makeshift family is together. So really, there's only one thing Cas could say:

"I would've done the same thing."

[cyberdragoninfinity]

Yubel for the ask game?

YOOOOOB

First impression: *looking up Jaden's yugipedia page two years ago* "I'm sorry what the hell is this about him fusing with a Duel Monster??? HELLO?? HI????"

Impression now: YUBEEEL i like them a lot, moreso now that I did right after finishing GX...season 3 of gx is kind of a mess in a lot of ways but it's not really their fault. I'm not rly someone who enjoys "soul fusion with your soulmate" much as concept personally and I'm not terribly big on what s3 had to do to jaden's character to make that endgame possible, so that's not really my favorite thing surrounding Yubel, but theyre such a genuinely interesting and engaging character and yugioh villain. Also lbr her design fucking kicks ass. I wish she got to be a little sillier, a little goofier!! The GX character birthright!!!

Favorite moment: Yubel!Jesse vs. Zane duel, full stop. Still genuinely one of the greatest duels I have seen in yugioh thus far. tfw GX had a color and lighting budget for like 3 episodes and it slapped like absolute hell.

Idea for a story: im very fond of my College AU Yubel, very love the idea of them having to write an essay that Jaden slacked on and then they actually get really into it. Compiling knowledge of the Baroque period they have zero use for but find interesting nonetheless...

Unpopular opinion: I've talked about it a couple times before but I don't really go to jaden/yubel as a romantic ship; I personally enjoy it much more as a platonic soulmates read (like. idk. if they didnt have the element of "yubel has been looking out for jaden Since He Was a Little Kid" i'd be more into it i think. just not really my favorite, that point. and again just not big on soulfusion. but im aro dont listen to me fjdgsg)

Favorite relationship: that being said i Do really like the potential of jaden and yubel's dynamic and it's unfortunate s4 Is so short so you only really get a small glimpse of it. they can play off each other really well and there IS so much love there! i wanna see things play with their little individual habits driving each other insane. Yubels gonna reach into jay's jacket pocket and get a handful of crumbs and I think he's gonna be a little "damn bitch you live like this?" THATS my favorite jaden n yoob dynamic.

Favorite headcanon: I really love transfem Any Pronouns yubel. Also I know in my heart of hearts they'd be a complete metalhead, but like, also for music from two thousand years ago. Yubel is a very Iron Maiden T-Shirt coded character to me I will not be elaborating.

[dragonbma]

Jotting down some extras about the Possession AU:

Pre-Sea Temple Adventure: (some of these I also headcanon for the actual game)

Jack and Vos were friends since a young age and later met Sammy and Nurm on an adventure. The four traveled for a bit, but eventually Nurm left to map new locations while the others explored elsewhere. (Jack later reunited with Nurm after the Sea Temple adventure.)

Jack, Vos, and Sammy found the first prismarine gauntlet on accident during an underground expedition.

The original gauntlet did not have curse of binding. The incentive to visit the Sea Temple was to get the structure block to close the “creepy bottomless pit spitting out monsters” that opened up after Jack picked up the gauntlet. (I’m guessing this took place somewhere near Mushroom Archipelago since Jack mentions in game that the residents there know of the Sea Temple.)

Individual personality headcanons coming soon ^^

Vos in Beacontown:

(Right after leaving the Sea Temple: Romeo still in control of ‘Vos’)

Vos is delighted to see that Archie (Sammy’s parrot) is alive and well.

Jack and Nurm live in their shop/emporium and Jack offers a spare room in the attic to Vos. “It’s kind of a mess in here, but you’re free to have this room if you want.” “Thank you, Jack. I really appreciate it-” “Give me a second and I’ll grab a spare sleeping bag...” And then Jack returns to find ‘Vos’ just curled up and napping on the floor- (Romeo realized how tired Vos was so he was just like “Ugh fine we’ll just sleep for a minute-”)

When the town is rebuilding after the Admin’s initial attack, Jack goes out and gets new resources to rebuild his shop with. Jesse notices this and asks why he’s not using the prismarine that dropped from the Colossus. His reasoning: “As cool as it would look, I don’t really want a constant reminder of the Sea Temple in the emporium. Especially with Vos moving in. He was helping with the rebuilding earlier in town, but I could tell he was pretty off-put whenever he had to craft the stuff. Reminded me of how I felt when we ventured back to that temple. And I get it… Plus the shop looked great before! No need to change it. But, hey, don’t tell Vos; I don’t want him to feel bad-”

(After Romeo’s defeat:)

Vos was somewhat nervous and socially awkward after not being able to interact with other people for years so Jack usually helps him get to know the other townsfolk. Especially Ivor. After Ivor gets back from his ninja shenanigans, Jack is probably ecstatic to introduce his best friend to his idol who lives in town.

I want to say some things about the scene on the Terminal Zone bridge, but that may be a comic for another day-

Other:

Vos and Xara had never been good at sleeping until after they returned from their individual “odysseys.” Vos had the longest nap in the emporium attic after sleeping on nothing but cold obsidian for the decade. Xara probably slept for a whole week when she finally got her bed back-

Having no natural sunlight for years probably affected Vos’ vision somehow (photophobia maybe) so he keeps his hood up to block the sun whenever he goes outside. Finally leaving the temple for the first time was probably a blinding experience. “I’d really like to see the sunshine again. I hope it’s as nice as I remember.” Bro, you’re going to see all of it-

Post-game stuff will be revealed in a later post because I have so many ideas of what everyone gets up to that it needs its own post. ^^

[Back to original post:]

[animationadventures]

A little bit of writing inspired by art from @jess-the-vampire ‘s alternate AROFAM AU. Jess will know which art piece this is referencing.

It took little time at all for Philip to realize how complicated having a baby in the house made everything.

The first thing he noticed was how the little infant threw his sleep schedule out the window. At any hour of the night, he would wake up to the baby crying for something; it could be he was hungry, needed changing, or simply had a bad dream and needed to be held. Any one of those needs would have them both awake for an unknown length of time.

If Philip wasn’t reliant on clawfee before, he was now. Hunter keeping him up at night meant he needed something to keep him awake during the day.

The second thing he noticed was how the presence of an infant affected his ability to do chores.

Even though Philip lived alone, there were still chores that needed tending. Dishes had to be washed, laundry needed to be done, things needed to be cleaned, the garden needed upkeep, and garbage had to be taken out.

Before he could do it all easily and swiftly. Now, he had to consider a baby in how he did everything.

Philip was not an expert in childcare, but he knew that children so young needed constant supervision.

He would leave Hunter with Steve the doorknocker to watch him, but Steve had a habit of swallowing creatures whole and regurgitating them in balls of goo when he was unattended. Weirdly, he behaved like the Empress and her blasted owls she themed herself after. Them and their penchant of coughing up pellets.

So unless Philip wanted to try doing all his chores one-handed while holding Hunter with his other, he needed to find some way to occupy him.

It wasn’t until he spied his old satchel in the corner of his room that he had an idea. He knew there was a reason why he dug out the old thing weeks ago when he was doing a cleaning of his closet.

After briefly remembering all the crimes he committed using the satchel, how much loot he stuffed in it over the centuries, he decided to try his idea.

Opening the satchel and dumping out whatever junk he still had in it, he set about seating Hunter inside it like a chair. He would have laid the baby in it like it was a basket, but he had a distinct feeling that it wouldn’t be safe for him. Using his bag as some kind of baby carrier was probably pushing child safety as it was.

Hunter cooed delightfully as he sat in the satchel with his chubby hands gripping the brim in front of him, the flap leaning against the back of his head like a headrest.

“Alright, let’s see if this works,” Philip said, picking up the bag by its sides.

Mindful of the delicate child, he carefully hoisted it up and guided the strap over his head and onto his shoulder opposite of the hip he was resting the satchel against. He tucked the strap between his shoulder and the hood of his cloak, pulling his ponytail out from under the strap afterward so it could be free instead of pinned against his back.

Standing before his mirror, Philip examined his and Hunter’s reflections. One hand grasped the strap across his chest and the other held the side of the satchel; Hunter giggling happily and stuck his tongue out.

Philip grinned at both Hunter’s antics and his own cleverness.

“You know something, Hunter?” He looked down at the baby, who babbled at his reflection obliviously. “I think we just figured out how to carry you.”

Without expecting a response from Hunter, he turned away from the mirror and began walking back downstairs to start on the day’s needed chores, keeping a hand on the satchel to prevent it from swaying too much with every step.

Hunter whined when he was carried away from his reflection.

[smooth-goat]

😅🥺😈🤡🛒✨🎢⛔✅💔

(from this post)

so many !! jfdskl;a

😅 What’s a story or scene you’ve created that you’re a smidge embarrassed exists?

I don’t really like “Sweetpeas and Daffodils”, tbh. I mean, I leave it up but since it was pretty venty I got it out quickly and don’t like it all that much—it’s just kind of boring naval gazing imo 

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

When you’re not sure if love is enough! When there’s so much love and a desire to make things work, but you just don’t know if you can work though something—Moomintroll and Snufkin wrt Sisu, but also Snufkin and his parents! I just love the tragedy of it. 

On The Other Paw, I also really love when someone can just step in no matter what. More of a personal thing for me, I think, being disabled in a way that is socially viewed as, if not needy, then gross. So moments like when Moomintroll holds Snufkin’s face after Snufkin vomits in “acacia & asphodel” chapter 7 hit in a really personal way for me. 

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers? 

Tbh I don’t think so? Closest thing I can think of is ambiguous endings, but I don’t do that playfully, but rather because I just love reading and writing ambiguous endings; I think they’re more interesting. Okay with more reflection, definitely the cliffhanger between the two fics in the Ginger Tea series. Not so much the ambiguity at the ending of the first piece, but playing coy in the comments about what the decision would be even though I knew jfdklsa 

🤡 What’s a line, scene, or exchange you’ve written that made you laugh?

A few! Especially in “chlorine & corticosteroids”, where I had a lot of fun with Lake and Jesse’s banter. But I also do like this exchange in my Owl House beekeeping AU (that I haven’t finished fjdlsa)

“You said this hive’s been here for, what, six weeks?” he asks, after a moment. He has to speak up over the buzzing. 

“Mm-hmm.” She nods, too, even though he’s not looking at her. His peripheral vision can’t be that good in that veil. 

“Yeah, it’s been here way longer than that.” 

“Really? How long?” 

He hums for a moment, peering down into the gutted floor. “Two, three years?” 

“Years?” she repeats, dumbfounded. How could she not have noticed? “How can you tell?” 

Hunter pulls a funny little crowbar out from his pocket. He shrugs. “Lotta bees.”  I also like this unpublished exchange from “acacia & asphodel”, which makes me chuckle: 

Snufkin sets Sisu down on the carpet before unbuttoning his winter coat. He glances over to see Aliisa sitting cross-legged on the couch beside a scraggly cat, a deadpan expression on the witch’s face as she scrolled through… Vine? The one with the videos.

Snufkin opens the coat closet door. Closes it again. Turns to his roommate.

“Why is there a cat.”

“Her name is Talvi,” Aliisa corrects, her tone as if they’ve had this conversation before. “She lives here now.”Snufkin sighs and puts away his coat before bending down to help Sisu out of theirs. He tries to ignore the pain in his fingers “Do you know how expensive it is to own a cat? Especially one off the streets? It’s probably full of worms.”

“You’re full of worms.” 

Snufkin lets that one lie.

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Fdsjkfl;sad awwwwww I think I’m good at mood and tension! Creating an atmosphere that fills a scene, yk? Like the second chapter of “acacia & asphodel”, where Snufkin’s taking the pregnancy tests and turning them over one by one. 

I also like the Completely Unnecessary Research I do—mostly I just have fun doing it, but I think extra little details like adding travel times or medicine side effects or regional dress naturally make something more fleshed-out and grounded.  

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

One thing I notice in my writing is that I don’t often use attributive tags, like “he said” or “she yelled”—stuff like that. Usually I instead put an action that character is doing, frequently a fidget, which I try to make different for each character.  Another style thing I notice is a focus on timing developed by punctuation—forcing a little pause with sentence fragments and paragraph breaks. I think that’s a thing coming from how I type casually online, like on discord. 

With themes and imagery and emotions and such, I think I put a lot of emphasis on unsaid things—unsaid by prose or by characters. Like, trying to make this atmosphere of “elephant in the room”. What is the thing that so obviously needs to be said butcannot. Obviously, that complements Snufkin’s character very well when I write him, but I also have that a bit in my Infinity Train writing, like when Jesse is shaving Lake’s hair, and there’s thisshift in the relationship between them, where they’re becoming closer but neither are really going to acknowledge the intimacy of the act, and instead showing the lasting impact of it (and also Lake’s influence on Jesse in general) by mentioning little bits of Lake’s hair clinging to him on the bus ride home. It’s about Symbolism. It’s about Implications. 

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

I’m not sure! I don’t really think I’ve written any? I don’t know, I feel like all my stuff was pretty predictable, but maybe that’s just cause I know what’s gonna happen in them.       But if I’m picking one, probably Black Cohosh? Just because it has a few pretty dramatic plot points, and its subject matter isn’t something that’s very popular in the fandom, so it might be a little more surprising for a reader. 

But also I think the experience of reading Ginger Tea when it was coming out was probably a bit of a ride, not knowing that Snufkin would do. 

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

I wouldn’t really say “scrapped”, but I definitely have different things I’ve put on the back burner for even a few years, including one where Moominpappa builds a ramp up to Moominhouse, which I do like but just sdfjkl Haven’t finished it. ForIvy Garlands, though, I have a few paragraphs because it was originally just going to be their first birthday in Moomin Valley: 

It was everything Sisu deserved. 

And nothing he could provide. 

 Snufkin remembered Sisu’s second birthday, spent traveling back to Moominvalley, stowing away on a cargo ship from Gda?sk to Helsinki, covering his kit’s mouth to hide their cries while Soviet officers examined the ship from stem to stern for contraband and stowaways. 

He remembered their first birthday, when Snufkin hadn’t eaten in at least two days. The winter freeze hung long and firm, and he could only gather enough for Sisu. They screamed and screamed, garnering the attention of the fillyjonk bakery owners who turned their noses up at the scrappy mumrikar tramp with the bastard infant. A younger fillyjonk had snuck into the woods several hours later, finding the father and child fishing on the lake. She had brought them a handful of ptasie mleczko—which quickly because Sisu’s favorite sweet—and apologized for her aunt’s behavior before slipping away once more.  

He remembered seeing Sisu for the first time, loving them in an automatic, hollow way; cradling them in his paws like they could break. He remembered their cries, the pain, the blood, the darkness. He remembered the kind moomins of Zalipie bathing him and feeding him when he didn’t have the energy or will to do so himself. Snufkin remembered the disinterest, the distance, the resentment he felt for the little creature with which he shared blood. Over the years, his love for them filled out and developed, overflowing his heart—his entire body; it pushed out the resentment. Almost all of it.

✅ What’s something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don’t mean to?

Special interests ! I’m always putting in medical stuff or dress history or beekeeping in there even when it doesn’t have a reason jfkdals I just Have to get it in there. 

Also, difficult parental relationships, I’m noticing! Snufkin with his parents, who he feels neglected and abandoned by; Moomintroll’s parents, who he feels don’t take him seriously; Tulip and Lake’s parents in “c&c”, who’ve done a poor job of keeping their children out of their divorce. I think people tend to depict parents as either all good or all evil, but much more realistic and interesting is when parents are people who just can have difficult times and screw up, and that a parent/child relationship is like any other: something that has ups and downs, takes work, and is a two-way street (which is complicated by the power dynamic in a really interesting way). 

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

“Yellow Rainflower”, I think! It’s just really hard to see such a big fallout between Snufkin and Moomintroll. Every time I was writing a fight scene between them, I’d reach a point where I could start to wrap it up Or escalate it further, and I just kept escalating it. Not even really as an active decision—it just kept Coming Out jfdskla